First of all, congratulations to the Kentucky Wildcats for winning the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. There is something that can be said for a team that best navigates the 69-team tournament over the course of three weeks. It is certainly no small accomplishment.
This Kentucky team is different than the traditional national champion squad. This team was coached by John Calipari, who is notorious for recruiting players who are “one and done,” or players that will only play one year in college before leaving for the NBA. This Kentucky team was comprised with three one and done players: Marcus Teague, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Anthony Davis.
Now, keep in mind that as of right now, none of these three players have officially declared for the NBA draft, but it is expected they will. This situation raises the age-old question of who benefits from the one and done rule. As it stands, players in the NBA must be at least 19-years-old before they can be drafted.The one and done hurts college basketball fans. Yes, a large number of college basketball players stay in school for an education, but a large number of star players do not. The one and done hurts college fans by way of consistency. Fans will always remember the big baskets, the runs late in games and the best victories, including national championships. But when new players rotate in and out of a program in just one year, the fans may not always remember the players that made those moments happen.
The worst part about this (and it seems to fit perfectly with last week’s column) is that winning with big time one and done talent proves that it can be done and makes it OK for coaches to recruit to that end. When coaches try to recruit heavily to one and done, it is what players will come to expect.
When the NCAA hits this level, then the game of basketball will become more of an assembly line of basketball talent for the next level rather than a game focused on building a program through consistency and the sanctity of team.
The above example is obviously an exaggerated case, but it is one that I think could very well happen. The NCAA and the basketball and football sports have become a purely made-for-TV event and the one and done rule only helps this.
